This invention relates to drive axles, and more specifically to semi-floating axles which have axle shafts journaled for rotation at the outboard end by bearings inside the axle housing.
Semi-floating drive axles are well-known and are lighter and less expensive than full-floating drive axles which have the axle shafts journaled for rotation at the outboard end by bearings outside the axle housing. However, with semi-floating axles it is necessary to provide some retaining structure to prevent the axle shafts from pulling out of the differential side gears during cornering. (The full-floating drive axle does not have this problem because the bearing arrangement prevents the axle shafts from pulling out of the side gears.)
In drive axles having a low ratio, e.g., 2.5 to 1, the axle shafts are prevented from pulling out of the side gears by having for each axle shaft a C-shaped clip or retainer which is placed in a groove around the axle shaft and is larger than the splined opening in the side gear through which the axle shaft extends. In order to assemble this construction, it is necessary to remove the pinion shaft from the differential cage, place the C-shaped clips in the grooves around the axle shafts and then replace the pinion shaft.
The construction and method of assembly described above for low ratio axles cannot be used with drive axles having a high ratio, such as 6 to 1. The reason is that the ring gear which is fastened to the differential cage must extend further out in order to mesh with the input pinion gear which has been reduced in diameter to provide the higher ratio, and the further extension of the ring gear causes it to overlie the pinion shaft, thereby preventing its removal from the differential cage.
Our invention overcomes the problem described above by providing a construction and method of assembly for preventing axle shafts from pulling out of side gears during cornering which does not require removal of the differential pinion shaft during assembly.